Where FFXIV Dawntrail's Story Went Wrong

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[Maria_Erias]

The point raised around 29:00 about Wuk Lamat only wanting peace because it was what her father wanted is something that we've seen before - in the Coils of Bahamut story. With Alphinaud pushing Alisaie about her reasons for wanting to protect Eorzea, and how it seems to him that she only wants to help Eorzea because that's what Louisoix wanted. And he winds up saying something like, "A borrowed reason is never as strong as one that you come to yourself; in time, it may falter and fail."

[ZanTheFox]

Estinien had the Dawntrail experience we should have had

[fredman]

With how different the scions are behaving in this expansion, I'm starting to think they really did die in Endwalker, and the ones we got now are aliens disguised as our friends.

[sorarockss]

Whoever decided Krile's arc should be so short needs to re-evaluate their choices in life.

[LucyPyre]

you're entirely right about everything in this video don't let twitter gaslight u

[KuroiRayo]

Bruh Erenville didn't get a goodbye. His mom dapped him up, high fived him and said GOOD LUCK MY SON. You get one split second of her treating the dude like a son then she's gone.

[anthonydelfino]

The point you bring up about NPCs having bland corporate speak felt like that got applied to ALL the characters

I was so excited when I saw the twins were going to be part of our team joining us. But when there was literally no fun bickering it banter between them, I felt so cheated.

It really felt like they were there to fill out trust spots and could have just as easily been Uriangier and Y’Shtola for all the contributions they had to the plot

[EricJohnson-qroe]

I spent the whole first half of the expansion thinking “Can I team up with Koana? He seems to know what he’s doing.”

[Magmadon]

Lyna's short scene you showed in the video gave me goosebumps. I remember the moment, it still moves me. I don't think Wuk Lamat managed that in all of DT.

[Noversoft]

Zoraal Ja was impossible to take seriously from the moment he stated his motivations. He's literally a Reddit armchair general and would have gotten bodied instantly going into a war-hardened, post-EW rest of the world. Hell, he gets bodied instantly on his own turf. His only successful move was his surprise attack on the capital, but he doesn't really do anything strategically except posture. Then his forces he spent 30 years building get annihilated in an afternoon by an extremely small contingent of specialists from the East, dragons, cowboys and his countries' own original military. He couldn't even beat his own father with that bonus 30 years without his regulator crutch.

He was pathetic and lame and every time I saw him on screen I wanted to alt-f4. He really should have been the one with the mid-story heel turn into a regretful good guy, after seeing that the rest of the world was well and truly already familiar with war, death and tyrants.

[robintheforeteller]

I really wish Wuk Lamat had stayed behind in the second half to protect the city since she's literally the supposed warrior, while Koana joined us to Shalooni and Heritage Found since he's the technological guy, and would understand better what things do, and even understand the nature of Sphene better. It felt very awkward.

[Zelda]

Dawntrail is the first Retail WoW treatment I've gotten from FFXIV and it practically slapped the rose-tinted glasses off my face.
Returned to FFXIV in full swing when Shadowlands dropped; that expansion was where the development team went hard on gaslighting its fans and being outright disrespectful to its community while stepping on the established lore and creating nonsensical, unappealing plot-points for their 'new lore' and dumping on established characters while giving disrespectful conclusions to aforementioned established characters. Blah blah blah -- loved FFXIV, breath of fresh air, MSQ was something to look forward to. It was my 'new home' and what helped me break my 18-year-addiction to WoW. Characters both annoying and endearing I enjoyed in FFXIV; they all grew as we moved along, and I got to help them through their troubles. I cried in main-EW at Ultima Thule when I caught up to everyone. It was magical.

And then I reach Dawntrail, ready for another beautiful enriching story where I get to help Krile seek out her established grandfather and her parentage while getting quality time with Erenville and being introduced to his childhood friend Wuk Lamat. We go to a tropical paradise with mountains, valleys and all sorts of different zones to explore. I'm ready for a beach party, mini-games, and all sorts of adventure while focusing on my beloved companions and their need for answers and closure. And what do I get instead of that? Instead of adventure and closure for Krile I get stuck babysitting a preachy Mary Sue, dragged all over the hills by said-Mary Sue, and all the while bearing the most braindead attitude that my character has ever exhibited. And during my attempts to TRY to enjoy Dawntrail, Square Enix and staff members from the FFXIV team both are saying "thank you for your time, we care about you, we love our jobs" [and a certain someone dumping on me for disliking a certain song and a certain character AND being protected by Square]. I sure don't feel appreciated, being fed barely anything each four months [or so] and spending over half of the expansion watching cutscenes of a character I cannot enjoy in any context other than the GIF memes I see of shutting doors. In a word, I am heartbroken but I am wiser for it.

[Hilipinapixili]

Your final point about the lack of nuance is what really got me as well. The way Nanamo's reckless idealistic reforms almost got her killed. The way you trying to make things better was met by opposition, not by enemies (which are a given), but by the same people you were trying to help, like it happened in Ishgard or Garlemald. The way Endwalker tried to establish a message about finding what makes life worth living, yet at the same time presented Zenos as a twisted version of it's own message by becoming single-mindedly consumed by his own obsession, not being afraid to show how finding the spark to beat despair can also go totally wrong.
These "devil's advocate" moments are what made me fall in love with FFXIV, and are sorely lacking in Dawntrail. Tural itself is presented as this melting pot of diverse cultures living in perfect harmony, which is a beautiful thought but also very unbelievable, lacking in nuance, and anathema to actually interesting storytelling. Any inkling of conflict in the tribes is easily steamrolled by Wuk Lamat's bright-eyed idealism, which goes through the whole story pretty much unopposed, and the constant repeat of the "peace and happiness" mantra feels tiring at best, infantilized and patronizing at worst.
I guess the way they tried to put the idealism to the test was with the idea that Wuk Lamat inevitably had to go to war against her brother in order to maintain peace, which is indeed a contradiction. But Zoraal Ja was portrayed in such a villanous way that in the end the whole thing just feels like a typical conflict with the bad guy rather than a highlight of the inevitable problems of her idealism. Remove Zoraal Ja, who is an over the top and exceptional anomaly, and everything is swell. It just misses the mark, IMO.

[MangoPanic]

I feel like Koana would've been a much more natural story focus after the last expansion literally took place in Sharlayan.
_He_ was the character with the potential to be a great leader with a little nudging in the right direction. Then fact Wuk Lamat needed an entire party of baby sitters and he only needed 2 companions says it all. She could've been a great loveable sister to him if she wasn't the main focus

[UmatsuObossa]

They could've almost entirely fixed Bakool JaJa by just making him release Valigarmanda because he was so sure of himself, he thought he could beat it by himself, and then when he obviously can't, he flees, leaving you to deal with it.

[Mr.Genesis]

Glad you waited on a REAL review.. Not a "Rushed" review for clicks, clout and content.

You let your opinion simmer and actually did your due diligence in writing your review. Thank you for an actually detailed review no one will get from any other media source.

[matthewsnow]

I don't understand how anyone though Wuk Lamat was a good idea. I think the WoL should've hung out with Estinien the whole time.

[sakuraonisan]

The expectation was we were going on vacation and we didn’t get any of that. Babysitting an incompetent was not what I considered fun and the first part was to long. The scions constantly going on their own and my character stuck w Wuk was torture

[warghoul]

I took a week off of work to play Dawntrail.I thought the story was so bad that about three days into my vacation I was wishing I was at work. This was the first expansion that I just wanted to get it over with instead of wanting to see what happens next.

[Dracounguis]

Have you ever gone to your friend's house to play, but your friend's mom says you have to include the little sister... 😱